Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a sharp political attack against the Congress party following its dismal performance in the biennial Legislative Council (MLC) elections held across four states—Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Karnataka.
Highlighting that the MLC polls were conducted using paper ballots—a primary demand of opposition parties campaigning against Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)—PM Modi mocked the Congress for drawing a complete blank across the board.
PM Modi’s Dig at Opposition EVM Narrative
Taking to social media platform X, Prime Minister Modi pointed out the ironic outcome of the election results, directly targeting the Congress party’s ongoing demand for a return to traditional voting methods.
”MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?” PM Modi posted on X.
The Prime Minister’s remarks follow a coordinated push by the INDIA bloc opposition alliance demanding a return to paper ballots and alleging voter list manipulation during the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
State-Wise MLC Election Results Summary
Counting for the 28 MLC seats—spanning Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies polled on October 23—yielded major shifts across all four participating states:
- Karnataka: The ruling Congress suffered a severe political setback by drawing a complete blank across four seats. The BJP-JD(S) alliance swept the state, with the BJP retaining three seats and the JD(S) wresting one seat from Congress.
- Uttar Pradesh: Out of 11 seats, the BJP secured five seats while the Samajwadi Party (SP) won three, with counting continuing across remaining constituencies.
- Bihar: The Jan Suraaj Party opened its electoral account by winning a seat, while the BJP, JD(U), RJD, and an Independent candidate won one seat each across eight constituencies.
- Maharashtra: In a 5-seat contest, the ruling Mahayuti alliance maintained leads in three seats, while the opposition NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) led in two.
The defeat in ballot-paper elections poses a major narrative challenge for opposition parties that have consistently questioned the integrity of EVMs in recent national and state elections.